Combined ironing and folding machine



L. M.KOHN.

COMBINED IRONING AND FOLDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19,1919- RENEWED NOV. 12. 1921.

1 41 1,255, Patented May 23, 19220 flVVE/VTOR PT it:

LEO M. KOHN, OF NEW YORK, N. Yf

COMBINED IRONING'AND' FOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed December 19, 1919, Serial No. 346,067. Renewed November 12, 1921. Serial No. 514,822.

kind used in connection with the ironing,

mangling, pressing or drying of sheets of flexible material of anykind,

The objects of the invention are to produce a single machine of this kind which performs two operations on the articles, namely the ironing, smoothing or mangling and the folding of the same; also to provide a machine of this kind which is compact in arrangement and in which both operations of ironing and folding can be accomplished in practically the same amount of floor space heretofore required for ironing alone; also to provide feeding means of improved construction for conducting the articles from the ironing mechanism to the folding means; also to improve the construction of machines of this kind in other respects hereinafter specified.

The accompanying drawing is a side elevation of a combined ironing and folding machine embodying the invention, the folding mechanism being shown diagrammatically.

A represents the frame of a machine which may be of any usual or suitable construction and on which suitable ironing, mangling or smoothing mechanism is arranged. The ironing mechanism shown in the drawings iiicludes a steam chest B which may be of any usual or suitable construction and may be heated by steam or other means. The upper face of the steamchest is provided With depressions into which a plurality of padded rolls C extend, the rolls being rotated by any suitable means, (not shown), in the direction indicated "by the arrows, so as to feed the material to be ironed or mangled from the receiving end b of the steam chest to the discharge end 5' thereof. The articles to be ironed or mangled are advanced over the surface of the steam chest by the'padded or cloth-covered surfaces of the rolls and. are ironed or smoothed by engagement with the smooth and heated surface of the steam chest B. After the ar- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 11922.

holes have passed to the discharge end b of the steam chest they are taken up by an endless apron D passing over rolls d and are carried onthe upper run of this apron in close proximity to, or in contact with the steam chest B, so as to effect a further drymg of the articles. All of these parts have heretofore been used in connection with ironing machines or mangles and of themselves constltute no part of this invention. In ironing machines as heretofore used, means were provided for taking the sheets from the apron D at the receiving end of the machine and returning them to the discharge end of the machine, but these means are dispensed with in the improved machine and the ironed or mangled articles pass to the conveyors or tapes of a folding mechanism at the front end of the machine and may be discharged at the rear end of the machine in folded condition.

In the construction shown, thisfolding mechanism includes a suitable'conveyor E for the articles, which may be in the form of an endless apron or of a plurality of end less tapes passing over a roller 6 at the receiving end of the machine and over the rollers e e and e Any of these rollers may be driven in any desired manner to impart movement to the conveyor E. The conveyor E also bears against the roller 03 of the conveyor D in such a manner that the articles immediately upon passing out of contact with the steam chest B are taken up by the conveyor E which passes the articles to the folding mechanism. After passing on to the conveyor E, the articles to be folded engage a contact device F, having a part which extends into the path of movement of the articles to be folded and which closes an electric circuit, not shown, during the time that the article to be folded is in engagement with the contact device F. G represents the first folding member which is represented dia grammatically in the drawing and which when not in operation occupies the position shown in dotted lines at 9. When the part of the article to be folded reaches the. path of movement of the folding member G, this member is moved into the position shown litlti ried around the roller 6 between the conveyors or tapes E and H.

The mechanism for effecting the folding of the articles, including the contact member F and the folding member G, preferably aotsto fold each article at a distance from the ends of the article proportional to the length of the article and is not shown in the drawing. This timing mechanism connecting the contact member F and the folding member G may be of any suitable construction, for example, the timing mechanism may operate in a manner similar to the mechanism shown in Patent No. 1,313,713, of Aug. 19, 1919, assigned to me. No attempt is made in this application to describe the operation of the timing mechanism for causing the actuation of the folding member G at a definite interval of time after the article has passed the contact member F, since mechanism for accomplishing this result is fully described in my hereinbefore mentioned patent. I represents diagrammatically a housing or container for the timing mechanism. The tape H is preferably partly covered by means of a guard h which prevents the article to be folded from being carried between the conveyors E and H before the actuation of the foldin member G.

Before the article which has been folded by means of the folding member G is discharged from the conveyor IE, it passes and actuates a second contact member K which may be of similar construction to the member F. This member makes contact to complete an electric circuit while the folded article is in contact therewith and is operatively connected through the timing mechanism with the second folding member L. The articles to be folded for the second time are discharged from the'first main conveyor E to a second main conveyor referably consisting of a plurality of tapes I passing over rollers on m and m The folding member L may be constructed as shown in the patent above referred to so as to extend into the other suitable receiving means at the dis-' charge end of the machine.

In case long sheets are folded the sheets after-passing over the shield or guard h will fall upon the tapes M and will be carried by the same toward the discharge end of the machine until the folding member G is actuated, whereupon the article will be drawn back and passed between the rollers e 6?. By means of this arrangement ofv the first and second main conveyors E and M, lon sheets Will not be creased before the fol ing and a very compact arrangement of the folding mechanism is made possible, and since the sheets do not actuate the contact member K until after they have been folded, the passing of the long, unfolded sheets upon the tapes M .will have no effect whatever upon the second folding member L, since the contact member K is only actuate-d by sheets which have been folded by the member G.

The arrangement of the folding devices beneath the steam chest of the ironing machine is extremely desirable since it utilizes a space which is now of no use and furthermore a more thorough drying of the sheets is effected owing to the fact that the same are folded in close proximity to the steam chest B. By means of the folding mechanism described, the sheets, after passing through the machine are discharged in a condition in which they can be easily handled by a single operative for further folding, if desired, or for removing from the plat-form P. The arrangement of the folding mechanism underneath the ironing machine also effects a very material saving in the floor space necessary, since both folding and ironing machines require a large amount of floor space in order to enable them to handle large sheets of material. The folding mechanism also helps to insure proper drying of the articles since the tape conveyors support the articles in such a manner that the moisture may pass from the articles through the spaces between adjacent tapes. The folding mechanism further helps the drying of the articles by passing the samethrough the machine by a circuitous route and by passing the same from one set of tapes to another.

The machine shown in the drawings and described includes a flat work ironer of well known construction, but it is understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to use in connection with an ironer of this kind since ironing apparatus, manglesor analogous machines for smoothing or drying sheets of substantially flat material may be used in place of the fiat work ironer shown and described, and the word ironing as used in the specification and claims is not intended to limit the invention to use in connection with ironing machines of the kind shown, but is intended to apply to mangling and analogous machines for smoothing or performing similar operations on the articles.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination with-the frame of a machine, of ironing devices arranged on said frame, means for passing the articles in a direction trans'verse'to the direction of movement of said articles and to deliver said articles from the machine.

2. In a combined ironing and folding ma chine, the combination with the frame of a machine, of ironing devices arranged on the I upper portion of said frame, means for passfrom one conveyor to another.

ing the articles through, said ironing devices, a plurality of article conveyors on said frame. below said ironing devices adapted to receive the articles when they are discharged from said ironing devices, and folding devices co-operating with said conveyors to effect the folding of the articles transversely of the direction of movement of said articles and passing said articles from one conveyor to another.

3. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of a mechanism for ironing substantially fiat articles, and folding mechanism arranged below said ironing mechanism and adapted to receive the articles from said ironing mechanism and to deliver them folded at the discharge end of the machine, said" articles being subjected to heat from the ironing mechanism while operated upon by the folding mechanism.

4. In a combined ironing and folding ma chine, the combination with the frame of a machine, of a steam chest arranged on said frame, means for passing articles to be ironed along the surface of said steam chest, a plurality of article conveyors arranged on said frame and adapted to receive the articles after the same have been ironed, and folding devices co-operating with said conveyors to efi'ect the folding of the articles while passing through said machine, said folding devices transferring said articles 5. In a combined ironing and folding chine, the combination of a mechanism for to receive the articles from said ironing mechanismand to move said articles in various directions under said steam chest and deliver them folded at the discharge end of the machine,- said articles bein subjected to heat from said steam chest w ile the articles are operated upon by said folding mechanism.

6. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of a mechanism for ironing substantially flat articles including" ,means for passing the articles from the receiving end of the machine to the discharge end thereof and back to the receiving end,

and a folding device which takes the'articles from said ironing mechanism at the, receiving end of the machine and effects the folding thereof and delivers the folded articles at the discharge end of the machine.

7 In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of a mechanism for ironing substantially fiat articles including means for passing ,the articles from the receiving end of the machine to the discharge end thereof and back tothe receiving end, conveying means for receiving the articles from said ironing mechanism at the receiving end of the machine and conveying the articles to the discharge end of the machine, and means for effecting the folding of the articles while carried by said conveying means.

8. In a combined ironing and folding machlne, the combination of a mechanism'for u ironing substantially fiat articles, and fold- I ing mechanism arranged below said ironing mechanism and, including a first conveyor which receives the artlcles from said ironing mechanisrma second conveyor, the re ing mechanism arranged below said ironing mechanism and including a first conveyor which receives the articles from said ironing mechanism, a second conveyor, the receiving end of which is arranged'below the discharge end of the first conveyor in a position to re ceive unfolded articles from said first conveyor and which delivers the articles to the discharge end of the machine, folding means at the discharge end of the firstconveycr including means for delivering folded articles device arranged between the ends of the secondconveyor for imparting a second fold to the articles.

10. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of a mechanism for ironing substantially flat articles and folding mechanisms arranged in close pronimity to said ironing mechanism so that the articles while being folded are subjected to the action of heat from the ironing mechanism, said folding mechanism including a plurality of endless article conveyors arranged adjacent to each other'and means for causing the articles to be folded between adjacent conveyors.

11. In a combineddroning and folding machine, the combination with the frame of to said second conveyor, and a second folding a machine, of ironing devices arranged on said frame, means for passing the articles through said ironing devices, a plurality of article conveyors arranged on said frame and each including a plurality of tapes spaced apart to form spaces through which the moisture may escape from the articles, and folding devices cooperating with said conveyors to pass the articles from one conveyor to another, whereby further drying of the articles is effected.

12. in a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of means for first ironing the articles, means for conveying the articles from the ironing means, and means for thereafter folding the articles transversely of their direction of movement while subjected to the heat of the ironing machine and after they have passed out of engagement with the ironing means.

13. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of means for first ironing the articles and carrying the articles to the receiving. end of the machine, and folding mechanism which takes the articles at the receiving endof said machine from said means and which folds said articles transversely of the direction of movement thereof and Which delivers said articles at the discharge end of the machine.

14:. In a machine for ironing and folding substantially flat articles, the combination 15. In a combined ironing and folding machine, the combination of means for ironing the articles and which includes continuously operable means for conveying the articles through said ironing means which are adapt ed to receive the articles at any part of the cycle of movement of said conveying means and which discharge the unfolded articles therefrom, and means for folding the articles while subjected to heat from the ironing machine including a continuously operable carrier for the articles, which receive the articles as they are discharged from said ironing means and continues the movement thereof through said folding mechanism.

Witness my hand this 9th day of December, 1919.

LEO M. KO ill.

Witnesses:

DANIEL J. Hess, lit. LEE M. Cc-usnm. 

